


you've got something i would die for

by drakefeathers



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Batman: A Death in the Family, Gen, Sad Ending, death death death death - in case it wasn't clear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-25 04:35:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17718152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drakefeathers/pseuds/drakefeathers
Summary: Bruce makes it to the warehouse before the bomb goes off. Jason wishes he didn't.alternate title: this is so sad, alexa play despacito





	you've got something i would die for

**Author's Note:**

> do you ever find word documents on your computer from 5 years ago titled "every1 will be sorry"

Jason still believes he's going to be okay when he sees the Joker lift up the crowbar. His belt is gone and his shoes are gone and so is every tool and trick up his sleeve, and his hands are tied behind his back but he can _still do this_. He can get out of this if he stays calm and remembers what Bruce taught him--

_ THWACK _

The first swing of the crowbar catches him in the shoulder and tears a grunt of pain out of him. He couldn't have expected how much it _hurts_. 

The pain shoots down his bones like lightning. He can't move his arm, he can't even move his fingers. He grits his teeth against the agony and fights against the knots binding his wrists with his good hand. He can still--

_ CRACK _

He doubles over at the whack to his ribs, falling face-first against the hard cement floor and wheezing. He tries to slow his breathing. Slowly through his nose. It hurts too much, something is broken. How's he going to be able to fight his way out of this with shattered ribs?

He needs to think. _Think_. He can--

He doesn't even hear the sound of the crowbar coming into contact with his jaw. Just the rush of air as it swings and then the explosion of white-hot pain that drowns out everything else.

Nothing in his life has ever hurt this much, not even that time he got shot.

Another blow to the head and he's dizzy, numb. Everything tunes out. The Joker's laughter, the crunching of his own bones, any escape plan that could save him.

The only thought he can cling to is _Bruce_. Bruce is going to come. He'll be here soon. He will.

* * *

 

After the Joker leaves, Jason manages to crawl over to his mother on broken bones and fumble apart the knots tying her to the pillar.

But that’s it. That’s all he’s got left in him. He can’t save himself, he can’t stop the clock, but he can help save her.

She grabs him by the arm and pulls him up off the ground, and it _hurts_ it hurts so bad he must’ve passed out again because suddenly they’re across the room in front of the door and she’s yelling that it’s locked.

There’s a loud crash from across the warehouse as the other door gets busted down. The dark figure silhouetted against the sun is heartbreakingly familiar. Jason believed without a doubt that Bruce would come and save him. And he’s right. 

He wishes he wasn’t.

There are only four seconds left on the clock. Jason tries to shout, to warn Bruce so that he doesn’t have to die, too. All that comes out is a rasp of air.

Bruce looks from the bomb to Jason. There’s no fear on his face as he runs forward, not back, and wraps himself around them, protecting them in the only way he still can as the timer hits zero.

* * *

 

Jason wakes up to acrid smoke and a deafening buzzing in his ears. It takes him a minute to realize he’s actually awake, still clinging to life. He doesn’t understand how.

His mother is lying beside him in the rubble, staring up at the blue sky with glassy eyes. He knows she’s dead.

Something warm is trickling down the side of his face—he’s not sure whether it’s tears or blood. His eyes start to close and then they snap open again when he remembers. _Bruce_.

With tremendous effort he lifts his head to get a better look around him. Only when the smoke clears slightly does he see the black-cloaked figure lying motionless a few feet away. He slowly drags himself over to Bruce. He murmurs Bruce’s name brokenly and tries to nudge him awake. 

There’s no response. Bruce doesn’t even stir.

Jason places his hand gently on Bruce's face to feel if he's still breathing. He is, faintly. Probably not for much longer.

Jason doesn’t think he has much longer, either. It’s getting harder and harder to breathe, all the smoke is sticking in his lungs and making him cough. Every time there’s more blood.

He lies down beside Bruce, resting his head against the man’s shoulder, and lets himself close his eyes. They’re going to die here, together, in the dusty rubble under the hot, beating sun. They’re both too far gone to change that. 

Jason clutches the tattered edge of Bruce’s cape in his hand. It’s okay.

He only regrets that Bruce isn’t awake to hear his last words to him.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] you've got something i would die for](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18383336) by [GoLBPodfics (GodOfLaundryBaskets)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GodOfLaundryBaskets/pseuds/GoLBPodfics)




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